Published in Deccan Post, March 2008
Hyderabad is loving it, NRIs are embracing it, Tollywood starlets are learning it, FM radios are espousing it and ad makers are scrambling for it. Telugu, FYI folks, is happening like never before, says Manju Latha Kalanidhi
Space = Jaaga, Backspace = Enka Jaaga, Print = Acchu, Copy = Gatlane Dinchu… This hilarious email forward on the commands of Microsoft Windows ‘Renduvel’ version in Telugu with a Telangana spin could soon be a reality. Telugu, for your kind information, is now chaala cool guru.
Telugu may be the most spoken language in India, after Hindi and Bengali, but the sudden spurt in Telugu activism is definitely a recent phenomenon. And a positive one too! English was upmarket and Telugu was looked down upon by the collegians even a few years ago. Today, Telugu has garnered its glory back, at least partly and that is a moment to celebrate.
Jodhaa Akbar, though aimed at the urban centres, was dubbed in Telugu. Not without reason. At the end of the day, nativity and the local stamp appeals to people. Telugu is the only other language the Magnum Opus was released besides Hindi and Urdu.
Even MNCs have realized the magic of the ‘Talk to Me, Not to My Dad’ syndrome and have started appealing to people in the language they think, not the language they work. Brands like KFC, which predominantly cater to the English speaking urban youngsters, are also coming up with ads in Telugu.
Says ad maker Alapati, who has been into advertising for over two decades, since the days of Eyetex, “With so much access to so many things, suddenly we are missing the local and native touch. Probably that is why youngsters are shifting to Telugu newspapers and NRIs logging onto Telugu websites for news, even if the same is available in English.”
“Everybody craves for that personal touch and the mana feeling,” he adds. A new mobile network ad says ‘Think Different ga’ with the dash of Telugu. Going ga-ga over Telugu, literally! Ad revenues for Telugu have gone up by at least 40 per cent in the last two years, he says.
Elswhere in Cyberspace, Telugu has ‘clicked’, literally. The vernacular dailies get more response than their English counterparts. By the way, Amar Chitra Katha’s Chandamama launched its Telugu website; the first out of 12 language editions to go online. It was in English alone till a month ago.
The newfound love for Telugu could also be attributed to the research findings that reveal interesting dynamics about native language. According to a latest research in New Scientist, “The native language you speak may determine how your brain solves mathematical puzzles. It influences the way problem-solving circuits in our brains develop,” it says.
Closer home, dazzling stars such as Charmme and Nayantara are learning the language from the scratch so they can dub their own voices. Asin started the trend by slogging for two hours every morning with a home tutor.
NRIs are embracing Telugu like never before. Telugu classes are held every Saturday morning for two hours at Edison, New Jersey. Software makers are scrambling to release Telugu versions of it. Euro Talk, an interactive language software, is getting an unprecedented response for the first time for an Indian language.
“Even in the US, Telugu is the flavour of the season. Peddabalasiksha is the most popular gift for the NRI kids on their third birthdays, when they start learning the language formally,” says Krishnamohan Kumsi, NRI of seven years and working with ISO New England at Holyoke, Massachusetts. During festivals and Indian holidays, kids and their families throng to the local temples not just to perform archanas and pujas but to learn Telugu as well.
The Mana Badi concept, launched by Siliconandhra.org in April 2007, runs 13 centers across eight cities in Northern California alone. 17 passionate volunteer teachers, using meticulously developed curriculum, are helping the students learn Telugu with enthusiasm. All for the love of Telugu alone.
The day is round the corner when the computer tutor dictates his wards the meaning of Telugu Windows commands. Search = Devulaadu, Save = Bachainchu, Save as = Gitla Bachainch, Save All = Anni Bachainch, Help = Nannu Bachainchu
ends
Feb 10, 2009
Feb 5, 2009
Come Back Peter, Come Back Paul
Published in Kolkata Weekend Guides, February 2009 book by Outlook Traveller Getaway
At Raiganj, keep your identity as a tourist a secret. Otherwise be ready to get interrogated by the locals on the purpose of your visit as they refuse to believe that anybody can come all the way from Kolkata to ‘visit’ their town and marvel at the birds. Right from the bell desk boy to the Bhel Puri seller, everybody is surprised at your idea of a holiday here. Some of the locals even burst into a raucous laughter when we revealed we are staying overnight just to relish the sights and sounds of the town. But frankly, this dusty and sleepy town in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district has no inkling of the magnificent natural treasure it is endowed with.
Home to over 12 migratory birds including open bill storks (also called Asian Openbills), night herons, cormorants, egrets, drongos and other such, Raiganj (pronounced Roygonj) is India’s second largest bird sanctuary that attracts over 71,000 birds every year. No mean feat for a sanctuary that doesn’t even have a concrete parapet wall to protect itself. The sanctuary (also called as Kulik Sanctuary) supports 50 per cent of the global Asian Openbill population and therefore has a pride of place in the international ornithology map.
When the migratory birds actually descend in thousands over this little town between July and November, it is a virtual siege. The birds invade every plant, tree, hole, niche and groove and water body. It is a sensory overload of beaks, paws, feathers and plumage. There is no escape from the happy chirpings, lazy gutturals, angry screeches and beseeching panic calls. At Raiganj, the birds propose and you dispose. In here, everyday is the bird’s day out.
Raiganj does not offer much else for the tourist in hot pursuit of ‘sight-seeing’ besides bird watching, but it certainly can give you the feel of a nice, languorous weekend. You could take a stroll along the meandering Kulik river right next to the sanctuary, walk across the little patches of mustard farms, snuggle up in your bed and listen to the chirping of birds as you read a book or catch up on the Sunday reading in your balcony and probably doze off while doing so. Raiganj has a lethargic pace that any city slicker would dream of while he awaits the light to turn green at the crammed city centre junction.
Early mornings at Raiganj are feel-good and will linger long after you drive back home. Being woken up by the pleasant chirpings of birdies right across your hotel’s bedroom window is in such stark contrast to the rude and impatient knocks of the doodhwala, paperwala, koodawala and subziwala back home.
Orientation
By default, you end up staying next door to the bird sanctuary because Raiganj doesn’t have any decent hotels to boast about barring the government-managed Raiganj Tourist. The lodge is a 40-year-old structure with sit-outs to help you watch and capture the birds on your camera. You can see the sanctuary from your window. So park your car at your hotel and set out for a walk with your binoculars and a pocket notebook. The distances are embarrassingly short to drive around in a car.
Casual birdwatchers can tour the town in one day. However, the day lasts only till 4.30 pm and after that there is nothing much to do but stay indoors to watch television or read books.
Wake up by sunrise (around 6 am) and use the entire day to track birds and retire early. You won’t need any guide here as every part of the sanctuary is accessible for the public. The watch tower (still under construction) at the entrance of the park can easily keep you engaged for a few hours giving you a panoramic view of the birds and their activities of feeding the little ones, foraging for food, repairing the nests and even getting around together for a good time. You could ask someone in the hotel to show you around or brief you about the birds, but that would strictly be in Bangla – including the names of birds and trees.
Things to see and do
Raiganj is a place where you are pretty much on your own with little help from guides or any other guidance. Serious birdwatchers should come in groups and stay over a weekend during the season to watch the birds, discuss and exchange notes about it. Ideally, split your day into pre and post lunch, setting aside the morning for the sanctuary and evening for the river. Plan to reach back to your base by 5 pm.
Raiganj/Kulik Bird Sanctuary:
Timing: 8 am - 5 pm between October and May8 am - 6 pm between April and September
Entry: Adult: Rs 5;
Child below 10 years: Rs 2;
Students: Rs 2. Car/Jeep: Rs 50 (though there is no road around to drive through right now)
Closed on: Monday
Still Camera: Rs 20. Video camera: Rs 40
The sanctuary, built in 1985, is a landmark in the town and you can easily reach there without much trouble. It is about 5 km after the town and about a 2 km away from the Railway station.
Forget about being concerned, the local farming community holds the birds in contempt as they often forage onto their fields (usually paddy) to hunt for insects thereby destroying the crop. The board showing the direction to the sanctuary is embellished with cow dung cakes and that announces the ire of the locals.
It is spread across 1.30 square km. The core area is about 0.14 km² and the rest is buffer area. A leisurely, educative walk around shouldn’t take you more than four hours.
On a lazy weekday when the sanctuary expects just a few stray tourists, the ground is still not swept. Layers of dry deciduous leaves form a brown carpet on the floor. They break and crackle as you step on them giving the true forest feel. Even one lighted match can cause havoc to the place.
A few lazy streams from the Kulik river meander into the sanctuary. The quaint wood bridges on the streams make a pretty picture. The brick walkways are easy to walk through. The ground itself is covered with dense ferns and other shrubs imparting a dash of green to the otherwise brown forest. Every now and then, scores of teenage boys in rags pass by, carrying everything from twigs, fire wood, termite-ridden wood and perhaps even birds and eggs! The boundary itself is porous with an easy to bend mesh surrounding the sanctuary.
Even as we chat up the locals, a group of young girls walk past with bulging gunny bags filled with dry leaves and casually drop off the bags onto the other end of the mesh and jump across it to their colony. The sanctuary is certainly a no-man’s land giving access to any activity and being trespassed by clueless street urchins, women laborers, goat and cowherds and love birds. So much activity and not a single security guard around.
The only guard here is the Kulik river that wraps around protectively from outside around this U-shaped sanctuary. The sanctuary has a network of artificial canals connected with the river Kulik. During monsoon, the river floods the sanctuary and that’s good news for the Asian Openbills whose main diet is apple snail found in marshy waters.
As the monsoon fills up the Kulik river with gallons of fresh water, the Asian Openbills across the globe (probably from Siberia) instinctively know it is time to take their six-month vacation at Raiganj. The birds choose this part of India as it gets the Apple Snail insect – their staple - in abundance in the fields nearby.
Asian Openbills comprise the majority of the 164 species of birds such as night herons, cormorants, egrets and drongos here. During the peak migration season between May to January, even the indigenous birds such as doves, pigeons, woodpeckers, sparrows, kingfishers, flycatchers, owls and bulbuls join their foreign friends and hang out together.
According to birdwatchers, the Asian Openbills open the season by making a recce of the place in early July. When the first batch does not return to its base, the other birds take a cue that all is well and start off to Raiganj. By early August, the entire Asian Openbill population would have descended starting a fresh season of bird fights, one-upmanship and peace talks.
Just like the admission list in a school, the healthy, sturdy and aggressive birds take the best seats as nesting areas while the handicapped and the weaklings settle for the trees, even outside the protected areas along the NH 34 and sometimes in the garden or backyard trees the local homes.
Nestling ends by August and the birds start laying the eggs by September. The eggs take 40 days to hatch and therefore November is the best time to catch the birds in action – training the juveniles the surviving techniques in this big, bad world.
You can watch the birds standing two metres away as the Asian Openbills are now pretty used to flashbulbs and handycam lights. These birds do have their share of tragedies when a sudden rain destroys the nest or when the little ones hit the ground with a thud and pass out. Interestingly, even an adult Openbill takes a good five minutes to take off after holding the same ‘ready-to-take-off’ spread out pose. So it’s not surprising to see the little ones take an eternity to spread their wings.
By early December, the mission has been accomplished. Little ones see the world in the safety of the Raiganj bird sanctuary and are ready to take on the world. By New Year’s Eve, the Kulik bird sanctuary bleeds with the pangs of the empty nest syndrome. Come back Peter, Come back Paul!
Kulik River
It flows adjacent to the sanctuary and you can access it from behind the Raiganj Tourist Lodge. The river supports the life here. As noisy ducks paddle away, the kids take a dip, an occasional cyclist wades through with his ware and a group of Openbills descend onto the bank and fly away in one swell swoop.
NS Road
The market is on NS Road. You can recharge your mobile phone, fruits and even shop for woolens.
Rickshaw ride
A ten-minute ride in cycle rickshaw costs Rs 20. Definitely a pleasant way to soak up this little town. Buy a hard boiled candy and as you slurp in the sweet syrup, watch the town go about its life from the high seat on your cycle rickshaw. You can find rickshaws at the entrance of the sanctuary.
Where to stay
The Raiganj Tourist Lodge is the only good one in the vicinity. The rooms are basic, but clean and spacious. Every room comes with a sit-out that overlooks the sanctuary and is also the place for the birdies to wing in occasionally. Spend a while at the little marigold garden with eight varieties of the plant.
Note: If you are fussy about your boiling hot water for bath, carry your own mobile heating unit as the geysers here are not effective.
Raiganj Tourist Lodge (West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited)
PO Madhupur, Raiganj
Uttar Dinajpur district
Ph: 03523-225915; 9733 08791
Book your rooms in advance at least by telephone before you land up. Mobile and wireless internet connectivity is available.
The next nearest place to stay would be at Malda, 75 km from here. Hotel Royal Park (??????) on the main road is a good bet.
Where to eat
The Raiganj Tourist Lodge has a guest-house kind of restaurant where food is prepared on order. Don’t expect gourmet food though the lack of many options is offset by the concerned and hospitable restaurant staff. Chef Robi and steward Dipyendra Sanyal take personal care enquiring affectionately about whether you’ve slept well and if the food suits your palate.
Try the Mangur Macchi curry that has been made from the fresh catch off the Kulik river a few hours before it is cooked. Vegetarians will have to settle for watery and bland dal with some mixed vegetable curry. However Chef Robi surprised us with hot Beguni bajias with a sprinkling of aamchur powder for dinner on the day of our departure. Beguni is a hybrid brinjal used for curry and bhajias.
Breakfast with eggs, omelet and sandwich are also available. Curd is not available as it doesn’t set well in this weather. Rotis and rice available though.
You can try street food such as samosa, kachori, Jhol Muri near the Railway station road.
Note: The staff is not equipped to handle the rush hour adeptly. If you’re in a rush to finish your breakfast, carry your own packet of bread, biscuits, canned juices etc.
Even Malda does not have great food options. You can try the Mayaban, a fancy dhaba (with artificial waterfalls, fountains and lawns) for rotis and bhaji. The ambience is good but food is just passable.
Fast Facts
When to visit: May to December
Weather: Even peak winter is not too cold. A simple shawl or pullover should do. However, nights are chilly. Carry a fleece blanket if your hotel room doesn’t have one.
STD code: 03523
Getting there:
Air: Kolkata is the nearest air head.
Train:
Road: Take the Dankuni toll plaza from Kolkata and get on to the National Highway 34 to Durgapur. Take right at Panagarh (18 km before Durgapur) and keep proceeding till you reach Malda. Raiganj is 73 km from here. Expect a bad stretch of about 30 km after Basudhi.
Toll taxes up to Rs 200 one way (there are four toll plazas on the way. Tickets range from Rs 10 to Rs 45).
Tip: During winter, the sun sets before 5 pm and if you are taking the road, reach before sunset as some stretches of the road are bad and deserted.
Do not ask for bird meat as they could be killing the local birds here to get it to your table. Stick to fish, chicken or mutton, if you want non-veg.
Each meal takes an average of one and half hour because of the slow service. Set aside that time if you want to have a good breakfast. If you are in a rush, skip it.
If you are driving to Raiganj, stop by at Shaktighar (150 km from Kolkata) for Lengcha sweet. It is an oblong gulab-jamun kind of sweet, but milder in sweetness. Its shelf-life is 24 hours.
At Raiganj, keep your identity as a tourist a secret. Otherwise be ready to get interrogated by the locals on the purpose of your visit as they refuse to believe that anybody can come all the way from Kolkata to ‘visit’ their town and marvel at the birds. Right from the bell desk boy to the Bhel Puri seller, everybody is surprised at your idea of a holiday here. Some of the locals even burst into a raucous laughter when we revealed we are staying overnight just to relish the sights and sounds of the town. But frankly, this dusty and sleepy town in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district has no inkling of the magnificent natural treasure it is endowed with.
Home to over 12 migratory birds including open bill storks (also called Asian Openbills), night herons, cormorants, egrets, drongos and other such, Raiganj (pronounced Roygonj) is India’s second largest bird sanctuary that attracts over 71,000 birds every year. No mean feat for a sanctuary that doesn’t even have a concrete parapet wall to protect itself. The sanctuary (also called as Kulik Sanctuary) supports 50 per cent of the global Asian Openbill population and therefore has a pride of place in the international ornithology map.
When the migratory birds actually descend in thousands over this little town between July and November, it is a virtual siege. The birds invade every plant, tree, hole, niche and groove and water body. It is a sensory overload of beaks, paws, feathers and plumage. There is no escape from the happy chirpings, lazy gutturals, angry screeches and beseeching panic calls. At Raiganj, the birds propose and you dispose. In here, everyday is the bird’s day out.
Raiganj does not offer much else for the tourist in hot pursuit of ‘sight-seeing’ besides bird watching, but it certainly can give you the feel of a nice, languorous weekend. You could take a stroll along the meandering Kulik river right next to the sanctuary, walk across the little patches of mustard farms, snuggle up in your bed and listen to the chirping of birds as you read a book or catch up on the Sunday reading in your balcony and probably doze off while doing so. Raiganj has a lethargic pace that any city slicker would dream of while he awaits the light to turn green at the crammed city centre junction.
Early mornings at Raiganj are feel-good and will linger long after you drive back home. Being woken up by the pleasant chirpings of birdies right across your hotel’s bedroom window is in such stark contrast to the rude and impatient knocks of the doodhwala, paperwala, koodawala and subziwala back home.
Orientation
By default, you end up staying next door to the bird sanctuary because Raiganj doesn’t have any decent hotels to boast about barring the government-managed Raiganj Tourist. The lodge is a 40-year-old structure with sit-outs to help you watch and capture the birds on your camera. You can see the sanctuary from your window. So park your car at your hotel and set out for a walk with your binoculars and a pocket notebook. The distances are embarrassingly short to drive around in a car.
Casual birdwatchers can tour the town in one day. However, the day lasts only till 4.30 pm and after that there is nothing much to do but stay indoors to watch television or read books.
Wake up by sunrise (around 6 am) and use the entire day to track birds and retire early. You won’t need any guide here as every part of the sanctuary is accessible for the public. The watch tower (still under construction) at the entrance of the park can easily keep you engaged for a few hours giving you a panoramic view of the birds and their activities of feeding the little ones, foraging for food, repairing the nests and even getting around together for a good time. You could ask someone in the hotel to show you around or brief you about the birds, but that would strictly be in Bangla – including the names of birds and trees.
Things to see and do
Raiganj is a place where you are pretty much on your own with little help from guides or any other guidance. Serious birdwatchers should come in groups and stay over a weekend during the season to watch the birds, discuss and exchange notes about it. Ideally, split your day into pre and post lunch, setting aside the morning for the sanctuary and evening for the river. Plan to reach back to your base by 5 pm.
Raiganj/Kulik Bird Sanctuary:
Timing: 8 am - 5 pm between October and May8 am - 6 pm between April and September
Entry: Adult: Rs 5;
Child below 10 years: Rs 2;
Students: Rs 2. Car/Jeep: Rs 50 (though there is no road around to drive through right now)
Closed on: Monday
Still Camera: Rs 20. Video camera: Rs 40
The sanctuary, built in 1985, is a landmark in the town and you can easily reach there without much trouble. It is about 5 km after the town and about a 2 km away from the Railway station.
Forget about being concerned, the local farming community holds the birds in contempt as they often forage onto their fields (usually paddy) to hunt for insects thereby destroying the crop. The board showing the direction to the sanctuary is embellished with cow dung cakes and that announces the ire of the locals.
It is spread across 1.30 square km. The core area is about 0.14 km² and the rest is buffer area. A leisurely, educative walk around shouldn’t take you more than four hours.
On a lazy weekday when the sanctuary expects just a few stray tourists, the ground is still not swept. Layers of dry deciduous leaves form a brown carpet on the floor. They break and crackle as you step on them giving the true forest feel. Even one lighted match can cause havoc to the place.
A few lazy streams from the Kulik river meander into the sanctuary. The quaint wood bridges on the streams make a pretty picture. The brick walkways are easy to walk through. The ground itself is covered with dense ferns and other shrubs imparting a dash of green to the otherwise brown forest. Every now and then, scores of teenage boys in rags pass by, carrying everything from twigs, fire wood, termite-ridden wood and perhaps even birds and eggs! The boundary itself is porous with an easy to bend mesh surrounding the sanctuary.
Even as we chat up the locals, a group of young girls walk past with bulging gunny bags filled with dry leaves and casually drop off the bags onto the other end of the mesh and jump across it to their colony. The sanctuary is certainly a no-man’s land giving access to any activity and being trespassed by clueless street urchins, women laborers, goat and cowherds and love birds. So much activity and not a single security guard around.
The only guard here is the Kulik river that wraps around protectively from outside around this U-shaped sanctuary. The sanctuary has a network of artificial canals connected with the river Kulik. During monsoon, the river floods the sanctuary and that’s good news for the Asian Openbills whose main diet is apple snail found in marshy waters.
As the monsoon fills up the Kulik river with gallons of fresh water, the Asian Openbills across the globe (probably from Siberia) instinctively know it is time to take their six-month vacation at Raiganj. The birds choose this part of India as it gets the Apple Snail insect – their staple - in abundance in the fields nearby.
Asian Openbills comprise the majority of the 164 species of birds such as night herons, cormorants, egrets and drongos here. During the peak migration season between May to January, even the indigenous birds such as doves, pigeons, woodpeckers, sparrows, kingfishers, flycatchers, owls and bulbuls join their foreign friends and hang out together.
According to birdwatchers, the Asian Openbills open the season by making a recce of the place in early July. When the first batch does not return to its base, the other birds take a cue that all is well and start off to Raiganj. By early August, the entire Asian Openbill population would have descended starting a fresh season of bird fights, one-upmanship and peace talks.
Just like the admission list in a school, the healthy, sturdy and aggressive birds take the best seats as nesting areas while the handicapped and the weaklings settle for the trees, even outside the protected areas along the NH 34 and sometimes in the garden or backyard trees the local homes.
Nestling ends by August and the birds start laying the eggs by September. The eggs take 40 days to hatch and therefore November is the best time to catch the birds in action – training the juveniles the surviving techniques in this big, bad world.
You can watch the birds standing two metres away as the Asian Openbills are now pretty used to flashbulbs and handycam lights. These birds do have their share of tragedies when a sudden rain destroys the nest or when the little ones hit the ground with a thud and pass out. Interestingly, even an adult Openbill takes a good five minutes to take off after holding the same ‘ready-to-take-off’ spread out pose. So it’s not surprising to see the little ones take an eternity to spread their wings.
By early December, the mission has been accomplished. Little ones see the world in the safety of the Raiganj bird sanctuary and are ready to take on the world. By New Year’s Eve, the Kulik bird sanctuary bleeds with the pangs of the empty nest syndrome. Come back Peter, Come back Paul!
Kulik River
It flows adjacent to the sanctuary and you can access it from behind the Raiganj Tourist Lodge. The river supports the life here. As noisy ducks paddle away, the kids take a dip, an occasional cyclist wades through with his ware and a group of Openbills descend onto the bank and fly away in one swell swoop.
NS Road
The market is on NS Road. You can recharge your mobile phone, fruits and even shop for woolens.
Rickshaw ride
A ten-minute ride in cycle rickshaw costs Rs 20. Definitely a pleasant way to soak up this little town. Buy a hard boiled candy and as you slurp in the sweet syrup, watch the town go about its life from the high seat on your cycle rickshaw. You can find rickshaws at the entrance of the sanctuary.
Where to stay
The Raiganj Tourist Lodge is the only good one in the vicinity. The rooms are basic, but clean and spacious. Every room comes with a sit-out that overlooks the sanctuary and is also the place for the birdies to wing in occasionally. Spend a while at the little marigold garden with eight varieties of the plant.
Note: If you are fussy about your boiling hot water for bath, carry your own mobile heating unit as the geysers here are not effective.
Raiganj Tourist Lodge (West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited)
PO Madhupur, Raiganj
Uttar Dinajpur district
Ph: 03523-225915; 9733 08791
Book your rooms in advance at least by telephone before you land up. Mobile and wireless internet connectivity is available.
The next nearest place to stay would be at Malda, 75 km from here. Hotel Royal Park (??????) on the main road is a good bet.
Where to eat
The Raiganj Tourist Lodge has a guest-house kind of restaurant where food is prepared on order. Don’t expect gourmet food though the lack of many options is offset by the concerned and hospitable restaurant staff. Chef Robi and steward Dipyendra Sanyal take personal care enquiring affectionately about whether you’ve slept well and if the food suits your palate.
Try the Mangur Macchi curry that has been made from the fresh catch off the Kulik river a few hours before it is cooked. Vegetarians will have to settle for watery and bland dal with some mixed vegetable curry. However Chef Robi surprised us with hot Beguni bajias with a sprinkling of aamchur powder for dinner on the day of our departure. Beguni is a hybrid brinjal used for curry and bhajias.
Breakfast with eggs, omelet and sandwich are also available. Curd is not available as it doesn’t set well in this weather. Rotis and rice available though.
You can try street food such as samosa, kachori, Jhol Muri near the Railway station road.
Note: The staff is not equipped to handle the rush hour adeptly. If you’re in a rush to finish your breakfast, carry your own packet of bread, biscuits, canned juices etc.
Even Malda does not have great food options. You can try the Mayaban, a fancy dhaba (with artificial waterfalls, fountains and lawns) for rotis and bhaji. The ambience is good but food is just passable.
Fast Facts
When to visit: May to December
Weather: Even peak winter is not too cold. A simple shawl or pullover should do. However, nights are chilly. Carry a fleece blanket if your hotel room doesn’t have one.
STD code: 03523
Getting there:
Air: Kolkata is the nearest air head.
Train:
Road: Take the Dankuni toll plaza from Kolkata and get on to the National Highway 34 to Durgapur. Take right at Panagarh (18 km before Durgapur) and keep proceeding till you reach Malda. Raiganj is 73 km from here. Expect a bad stretch of about 30 km after Basudhi.
Toll taxes up to Rs 200 one way (there are four toll plazas on the way. Tickets range from Rs 10 to Rs 45).
Tip: During winter, the sun sets before 5 pm and if you are taking the road, reach before sunset as some stretches of the road are bad and deserted.
Do not ask for bird meat as they could be killing the local birds here to get it to your table. Stick to fish, chicken or mutton, if you want non-veg.
Each meal takes an average of one and half hour because of the slow service. Set aside that time if you want to have a good breakfast. If you are in a rush, skip it.
If you are driving to Raiganj, stop by at Shaktighar (150 km from Kolkata) for Lengcha sweet. It is an oblong gulab-jamun kind of sweet, but milder in sweetness. Its shelf-life is 24 hours.
Feb 2, 2009
No Mania Only Sania
Publishes in Sify's www.khel.com in 2005
Sani won’t admit. But she actually loves an awful ankle sprain. Thanks to her twisted ankle, today she gets to watch the Indo-Pak Delhi ODI on TV from start to finish as she puts her feet up, literally, on her favorite red bean bag. The cooks are dishing out her favourite biryani because Sania bibi is at home for lunch and all her friends are calling to catch up with her. Thank God for the ankle injury. But again, is this what she had bargained for when she started off as a tennis pro? Leg injuries, failing fitness levels, airline food, jetlags, early morning practice sessions, no parties, TV or dates. Sania Mirza picks up her verbal racquet to deftly field the volleys Khel.com and Manju Latha Kalanidhi serve her up.
Seven day house rest. The break you are getting is just what the doc ordered?
Yeah, that plaster to my left leg goes off next Sunday (it was a Monday that day). I am not supposed to move or walk. This rest should hopefully fix my poor injured ankle.
you’re the only Indian woman with a WTA title under your belt and to finish 75 in the latest WTA Singles Rankings. what’s next on the agenda?
I want to get into the top 50 by the end of this year. Going by the way life’s unwrapping at this moment, that shouldn’t be too difficult.
we’ve all heard of the sachin-shivaji park hardwork to success story. Tell us THE MAKING of the tennis sensation sania.
Ok, ok, ok (*shuffles her legs nervously on the beanbag and continues)… I hail from a family of sportspersons. My Dad’s cousins Ghulam Ahmed was the skipper of the Indian cricket team once upon a time and Fayaz Baig was a major Ranji trophy player. My Dad could not fulfill his dream of pursuing cricket because he had a family business to look after his parents passed away when he was young. But he is living his dream of having a family sportstar through me.
so your life was really planned to result in a sporting sensation?
No, not that way. Dad (Imran Mirza) wanted a sporting professional from the family, not a sporting star. I mean he wanted someone in the family to do well in sports and had I been a boy, I would have taken up cricket. But then, no regrets for choosing tennis. I started taking tennis coaching simply because among the sports I played I liked the game and I was good at it. So I started playing, winning local cups, then state-level tournaments, slowly moved on to the national circuit. Then I got good sponsors and there was no looking back. Each success propelled me to move further.
Sounds like a very cool ‘no-tears-no-toil’ success story.
Most people have no idea what all I went through. Today they only see my hoardings on the streets and the signed Sachin Palio gifted to me after the Wimbledon. I had my share of testing times when I had to put my academics on the backburner to pursue tennis. Those were the days when tennis was not happening and I wasn’t winning anything big. I was like ‘no ghar ka na ghaat ka’. My academic grades were falling (considering I was a bright student) and my tennis was moving at a sluggish pace. There was a time when I wanted to throw it up all. But then, winners never quit.
Do you miss going to school and college because of tennis?
The regular bunking classes, friends, movies, coffee pubs and the works. But then I was always a puritan when it comes to academics. Strangely, I used to love studying – you know just reading, writing notes, memorizing etc. That I manage to do even now. I have enrolled myself for a three-year degree course in Mass Communications from St Mary’s College, Yousufguda, Hyderabad.
What’s the high point of your career?
Winning the Bronze for India in the Mixed Doubles at Asian Games in October 2002. Being amidst the world’s best players was a big award in itself. It was great teaming up with Leander. I learnt so much in such a short while.
For someone who relies primarily on aggression, you don't seem to have a powerful second serve?
Even the world’s number one playing is never spared of a weakness. I overcome it with a strong forehand. My footwork and agility are two other points I need to work on. I am also bad on some courts. I have decided to hire a traveling coach so he can train me on every kind of court.
The media made a big deal out of your game against serena williams. Was it really?
Hmmm, I read in the newspapers a few days before the game about Serena playing against me. Serena is certainly a star but for me, it was more about being pitted against the best and getting a damn good chance to prove myself. I respect a good player like her, but I wouldn’t say I was overawed. It was a very professional admiration I would say.
Why is your physical fitness always an issue. How come players abroad, even those young teenagers manage to have custom-made bodies for tennis?
I guess it’s the Indian genes. Maybe Indian food habits. Weather perhaps. I really don’t know. I am 5 feet 8”, pretty tall for an average Indian teenager. But when I step abroad for my tournaments, my opponents easily tower on me by their sheer height. I am certainly working on my health aspect. In fact, this one week rest should hopefully put me back into good shape. And yes no more biryanis. Just healthy food.
Your cricketing counterpart Azharuddin, we hear, keeps tabs on the number of biryanis you consume every week?
Haa, that’s not true. Azhar runs a gym in Hyderabad and thanks to his interest in fitness and concern for a fellow Hyderabadi sportsperson like me, he does give me advice, dos and donts about keeping in shape. In fact my personal trainer is Faiz, who works with Azhar at his gym Est. That way Azhar plays a major role in how fit I am.
Considering tennis players retire in their 20s, what are your sporting ambitions?
Every year, I want to keep moving ahead. I want to become at least the top 25 players by the time I retire. But then one can never really predict. Tennis is indeed among the most strenuous games. If my doc says no more tennis, I have to do that. I twisted my ankle 17 times in all these years. Anyway, once I am done with my career, I’d like to start a Tennis Academy. Insha allah, in Hyderabad perhaps.
What’s your advice to budding tennis talent?
You will never become a great player if you’re after the WTA ratings, the endorsements, the fame or the money that you get by becoming a star in sports. Pure love and sheer passion for the game are the only factors that will make you success. Believe me, nothing can beat passion.
ENDS ENDS ENDS
Sani won’t admit. But she actually loves an awful ankle sprain. Thanks to her twisted ankle, today she gets to watch the Indo-Pak Delhi ODI on TV from start to finish as she puts her feet up, literally, on her favorite red bean bag. The cooks are dishing out her favourite biryani because Sania bibi is at home for lunch and all her friends are calling to catch up with her. Thank God for the ankle injury. But again, is this what she had bargained for when she started off as a tennis pro? Leg injuries, failing fitness levels, airline food, jetlags, early morning practice sessions, no parties, TV or dates. Sania Mirza picks up her verbal racquet to deftly field the volleys Khel.com and Manju Latha Kalanidhi serve her up.
Seven day house rest. The break you are getting is just what the doc ordered?
Yeah, that plaster to my left leg goes off next Sunday (it was a Monday that day). I am not supposed to move or walk. This rest should hopefully fix my poor injured ankle.
you’re the only Indian woman with a WTA title under your belt and to finish 75 in the latest WTA Singles Rankings. what’s next on the agenda?
I want to get into the top 50 by the end of this year. Going by the way life’s unwrapping at this moment, that shouldn’t be too difficult.
we’ve all heard of the sachin-shivaji park hardwork to success story. Tell us THE MAKING of the tennis sensation sania.
Ok, ok, ok (*shuffles her legs nervously on the beanbag and continues)… I hail from a family of sportspersons. My Dad’s cousins Ghulam Ahmed was the skipper of the Indian cricket team once upon a time and Fayaz Baig was a major Ranji trophy player. My Dad could not fulfill his dream of pursuing cricket because he had a family business to look after his parents passed away when he was young. But he is living his dream of having a family sportstar through me.
so your life was really planned to result in a sporting sensation?
No, not that way. Dad (Imran Mirza) wanted a sporting professional from the family, not a sporting star. I mean he wanted someone in the family to do well in sports and had I been a boy, I would have taken up cricket. But then, no regrets for choosing tennis. I started taking tennis coaching simply because among the sports I played I liked the game and I was good at it. So I started playing, winning local cups, then state-level tournaments, slowly moved on to the national circuit. Then I got good sponsors and there was no looking back. Each success propelled me to move further.
Sounds like a very cool ‘no-tears-no-toil’ success story.
Most people have no idea what all I went through. Today they only see my hoardings on the streets and the signed Sachin Palio gifted to me after the Wimbledon. I had my share of testing times when I had to put my academics on the backburner to pursue tennis. Those were the days when tennis was not happening and I wasn’t winning anything big. I was like ‘no ghar ka na ghaat ka’. My academic grades were falling (considering I was a bright student) and my tennis was moving at a sluggish pace. There was a time when I wanted to throw it up all. But then, winners never quit.
Do you miss going to school and college because of tennis?
The regular bunking classes, friends, movies, coffee pubs and the works. But then I was always a puritan when it comes to academics. Strangely, I used to love studying – you know just reading, writing notes, memorizing etc. That I manage to do even now. I have enrolled myself for a three-year degree course in Mass Communications from St Mary’s College, Yousufguda, Hyderabad.
What’s the high point of your career?
Winning the Bronze for India in the Mixed Doubles at Asian Games in October 2002. Being amidst the world’s best players was a big award in itself. It was great teaming up with Leander. I learnt so much in such a short while.
For someone who relies primarily on aggression, you don't seem to have a powerful second serve?
Even the world’s number one playing is never spared of a weakness. I overcome it with a strong forehand. My footwork and agility are two other points I need to work on. I am also bad on some courts. I have decided to hire a traveling coach so he can train me on every kind of court.
The media made a big deal out of your game against serena williams. Was it really?
Hmmm, I read in the newspapers a few days before the game about Serena playing against me. Serena is certainly a star but for me, it was more about being pitted against the best and getting a damn good chance to prove myself. I respect a good player like her, but I wouldn’t say I was overawed. It was a very professional admiration I would say.
Why is your physical fitness always an issue. How come players abroad, even those young teenagers manage to have custom-made bodies for tennis?
I guess it’s the Indian genes. Maybe Indian food habits. Weather perhaps. I really don’t know. I am 5 feet 8”, pretty tall for an average Indian teenager. But when I step abroad for my tournaments, my opponents easily tower on me by their sheer height. I am certainly working on my health aspect. In fact, this one week rest should hopefully put me back into good shape. And yes no more biryanis. Just healthy food.
Your cricketing counterpart Azharuddin, we hear, keeps tabs on the number of biryanis you consume every week?
Haa, that’s not true. Azhar runs a gym in Hyderabad and thanks to his interest in fitness and concern for a fellow Hyderabadi sportsperson like me, he does give me advice, dos and donts about keeping in shape. In fact my personal trainer is Faiz, who works with Azhar at his gym Est. That way Azhar plays a major role in how fit I am.
Considering tennis players retire in their 20s, what are your sporting ambitions?
Every year, I want to keep moving ahead. I want to become at least the top 25 players by the time I retire. But then one can never really predict. Tennis is indeed among the most strenuous games. If my doc says no more tennis, I have to do that. I twisted my ankle 17 times in all these years. Anyway, once I am done with my career, I’d like to start a Tennis Academy. Insha allah, in Hyderabad perhaps.
What’s your advice to budding tennis talent?
You will never become a great player if you’re after the WTA ratings, the endorsements, the fame or the money that you get by becoming a star in sports. Pure love and sheer passion for the game are the only factors that will make you success. Believe me, nothing can beat passion.
ENDS ENDS ENDS
Jan 31, 2009
BLAH BLAH BLOG
Published in DECCAN POST JULY 2008
Murphy’s 116th Law states that ‘Left to its own devices, anything can go wrong from bad to worse’. Blogs and bloggers were left to themselves – as platforms of creative writing for amateurish and enthusiastic writers in 1998. The same blogs (short for web logs or online journals) have now become an online menace - a dumpsite for personal raves, rants, news, views, juice, gossip, secrets, sexual fantasies, unholy thoughts and whatnots! Some blogs look for admiration, some affirmation, some for acknowledgement and some to just download their guilt. And why do people read blogs that don’t really concern them? To eavesdrop, to peek into other’s lives and feed the curious cat in them.
Googling the word blogging yields 77,000,000 results. Mind boggling? Considering nine blogs are created every minute and 2.3 content updates are posted every second (According to Wired magazine), blogging is the new online pastime. After aimless surfing, impersonal emailing, personal chatting and intimate webcamming, the new mania online is blogging. Blogs are the new I, Me, Myself avatars of online users. That blogging is free, easy-to-use (write and click upload) and fast and promises anonymity is certainly attracting even non-writers to post little big things of their everyday existence.
Blogging is the new tool through which actor Aamir Khan assures his fans that he is doing just fine after he injured his thigh at a Hyderabad shooting schedule. It is also the medium through which social activist Nandita Das fights her cause. It is where media professionals jam together to vent their ire out or bitch about bosses. Singletude is about advice to singles on how to get hitched and to be happy if there is no relationship on the cards. A Wired online research reveals that six out of ten blogs are malicious and gossipy. Is blogging therapeutic? Or is it just a vicarious pleasure to bitch about colleagues behind their backs?
Pyschiatrist Naveen Nekkanti, himself a relentless blogger, says blogging is the online confessional box. “In the church, only the Father listens to you. Online, the entire world is listening to you. Blogging should be used to expressing thoughts, writing creative pieces and discussing ideas. But to use it to debunk and backbite somebody on an everyday basis could be a sign of your own mental illness,” he says.
“A blog is like a personal CV. People google your name and want to know about you through your blog and once they realize both of you are on the same wavelength, they befriend you in real life,” says Dr Sneha Krishna, a doctor who does not blog but often meets people asking her why she doesn’t.
Blogs have become popular after employees have found that it is the best and safest place to discuss office politics. “Gossip has always been dangerous. But with the new blogging phenomena, it is also instantaneous. However, it is not very tough to guess the employees who put up blogs,” says Anjali Kola, a senior HR consultant.
Blog censorship is the new keyword online. Just as abusive posts and vulgar responses can be removed on websites, blogs may soon have a censorship body if the content gets exceedingly malicious or inappropriate. But that is still a long way. For now, the online world’s credo is I blog, therefore I am!
Murphy’s 116th Law states that ‘Left to its own devices, anything can go wrong from bad to worse’. Blogs and bloggers were left to themselves – as platforms of creative writing for amateurish and enthusiastic writers in 1998. The same blogs (short for web logs or online journals) have now become an online menace - a dumpsite for personal raves, rants, news, views, juice, gossip, secrets, sexual fantasies, unholy thoughts and whatnots! Some blogs look for admiration, some affirmation, some for acknowledgement and some to just download their guilt. And why do people read blogs that don’t really concern them? To eavesdrop, to peek into other’s lives and feed the curious cat in them.
Googling the word blogging yields 77,000,000 results. Mind boggling? Considering nine blogs are created every minute and 2.3 content updates are posted every second (According to Wired magazine), blogging is the new online pastime. After aimless surfing, impersonal emailing, personal chatting and intimate webcamming, the new mania online is blogging. Blogs are the new I, Me, Myself avatars of online users. That blogging is free, easy-to-use (write and click upload) and fast and promises anonymity is certainly attracting even non-writers to post little big things of their everyday existence.
Blogging is the new tool through which actor Aamir Khan assures his fans that he is doing just fine after he injured his thigh at a Hyderabad shooting schedule. It is also the medium through which social activist Nandita Das fights her cause. It is where media professionals jam together to vent their ire out or bitch about bosses. Singletude is about advice to singles on how to get hitched and to be happy if there is no relationship on the cards. A Wired online research reveals that six out of ten blogs are malicious and gossipy. Is blogging therapeutic? Or is it just a vicarious pleasure to bitch about colleagues behind their backs?
Pyschiatrist Naveen Nekkanti, himself a relentless blogger, says blogging is the online confessional box. “In the church, only the Father listens to you. Online, the entire world is listening to you. Blogging should be used to expressing thoughts, writing creative pieces and discussing ideas. But to use it to debunk and backbite somebody on an everyday basis could be a sign of your own mental illness,” he says.
“A blog is like a personal CV. People google your name and want to know about you through your blog and once they realize both of you are on the same wavelength, they befriend you in real life,” says Dr Sneha Krishna, a doctor who does not blog but often meets people asking her why she doesn’t.
Blogs have become popular after employees have found that it is the best and safest place to discuss office politics. “Gossip has always been dangerous. But with the new blogging phenomena, it is also instantaneous. However, it is not very tough to guess the employees who put up blogs,” says Anjali Kola, a senior HR consultant.
Blog censorship is the new keyword online. Just as abusive posts and vulgar responses can be removed on websites, blogs may soon have a censorship body if the content gets exceedingly malicious or inappropriate. But that is still a long way. For now, the online world’s credo is I blog, therefore I am!
Jan 29, 2009
HIGH FIVE FOR SEVENTY FIVE
Published in Hyderabad Times, Times of India, Sept 2008
Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the 75-year-old Telugu movie industry. A look at the giant called Tollywood
For mathematicians, it could be just be a statistic. 240 movies released every year;
For the producers, it is just another big punch in their current account. Rs 2.3 billion in the last one year;
For the bees ka challees wallahs, it is just an awesome figure. 700 million ticket sales annually;
But for the Telugu moviegoer, a matinee show is not just a three hour pastime. It is part of his life, an element of his psyche, a component of his lifestyle and a piece of his very being. 75 years since the first Telugu movie hit the screens, the movie mania continues to hold the Telugus mesmerized. How else can you explain the flourish of the 2,700 theatres across the State? Magic of the movies? Call it mania. An obsession. A passion. Or simply Telugu cinema.
While the quality of lyrics has plummeted, the number of young maverick directors has shot up. If the sons of soils have got a raw deal and made inroads for the Bollywood imports, the advent of star sons has compensated for the trend. If Digital Intermediaries, animation, CG and SFX has notched up Tollywood’s worth, remakes, copies and inspirations pull it down by a few steps. But on the whole, the 75 years of Telugu cinema can be summed up as phenomenal. Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the industry.
Among the biggest milestones of the industry would definitely be the shifting of base from Chennai to Hyderabad and starting off at ground zero to be able to build the most exotic Film City in the world.
Tollywood has always been a path breaker, each decade at a time. The first decade marked the theatre artistes facing the camera; the second decade was about mythologicals. The third was about socially-relevant themes about freedom, social conscience etc. The fourth was the decade of epics and devotionals. The fifth was love stories – tragedies, classics et all. The fifth was family dramas. The sixth was sentiment and love. The seventh was musicals, romance, action and violence.
Each decade gave birth to a new set of filmmakers that took the industry to a new level. If K Vishwanath put up Indian music on a pedestal with his ‘S’ series, Ramgopal Varma brought in the Hollywood action and revenge dramas amidst the gaana bajana. If lyricist Srisri motivated the youngsters to take up the cudgels of the society with his motivational songs, Sirivennela cocktailed chaste Telugu with colloquial Telugu to bring forth fresh lyrics. In terms of sheer technical brilliance, the cinematographer took Telugu cinema to new heights, be it with his camera angles or Digital Intermediaries. Interestingly, the stars of the new age have also done their bit for the society. If not directly, but by gently guiding their fan force into social service.
Like any industry, there will be ups and downs, super hits and duber flops. Awesome flicks and bakwaas movies. Tollywood is no exception. But the promise that there are new paths being stepped on, fresher ideas being incorporated and path breaking trends invented. That spirit is enough to celebrate 75 years of Telugu cinema. Salaam Tollywoood!
While there are innumerable biggest, highest, firsts in the industry, any Telugu movie fan would agree the following are the Big Ten of the industry.
1. The Classiest movie of all time: Shankarabharanam (1979)
2. “God’ of the matinee: NT Rama Rao
3. Ultimate Lover of the matinee: Akkineni Nageshwar Rao
4. Starriest Star: Chiranjeevi
5. Biggest grosser ever: Pokiri (2006)
6. Funniest movie ever: Mayabazar (1957)
7. Tollywood’s best export to Mumbai: Sridevi
8. Biggest embarrassment: Remakes, remakes and remakes
9. Most creative gift to Mumbai: Ramgopal Varma
10. Biggest asset: Giving a break to everyone who is talented
Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the 75-year-old Telugu movie industry. A look at the giant called Tollywood
For mathematicians, it could be just be a statistic. 240 movies released every year;
For the producers, it is just another big punch in their current account. Rs 2.3 billion in the last one year;
For the bees ka challees wallahs, it is just an awesome figure. 700 million ticket sales annually;
But for the Telugu moviegoer, a matinee show is not just a three hour pastime. It is part of his life, an element of his psyche, a component of his lifestyle and a piece of his very being. 75 years since the first Telugu movie hit the screens, the movie mania continues to hold the Telugus mesmerized. How else can you explain the flourish of the 2,700 theatres across the State? Magic of the movies? Call it mania. An obsession. A passion. Or simply Telugu cinema.
While the quality of lyrics has plummeted, the number of young maverick directors has shot up. If the sons of soils have got a raw deal and made inroads for the Bollywood imports, the advent of star sons has compensated for the trend. If Digital Intermediaries, animation, CG and SFX has notched up Tollywood’s worth, remakes, copies and inspirations pull it down by a few steps. But on the whole, the 75 years of Telugu cinema can be summed up as phenomenal. Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the industry.
Among the biggest milestones of the industry would definitely be the shifting of base from Chennai to Hyderabad and starting off at ground zero to be able to build the most exotic Film City in the world.
Tollywood has always been a path breaker, each decade at a time. The first decade marked the theatre artistes facing the camera; the second decade was about mythologicals. The third was about socially-relevant themes about freedom, social conscience etc. The fourth was the decade of epics and devotionals. The fifth was love stories – tragedies, classics et all. The fifth was family dramas. The sixth was sentiment and love. The seventh was musicals, romance, action and violence.
Each decade gave birth to a new set of filmmakers that took the industry to a new level. If K Vishwanath put up Indian music on a pedestal with his ‘S’ series, Ramgopal Varma brought in the Hollywood action and revenge dramas amidst the gaana bajana. If lyricist Srisri motivated the youngsters to take up the cudgels of the society with his motivational songs, Sirivennela cocktailed chaste Telugu with colloquial Telugu to bring forth fresh lyrics. In terms of sheer technical brilliance, the cinematographer took Telugu cinema to new heights, be it with his camera angles or Digital Intermediaries. Interestingly, the stars of the new age have also done their bit for the society. If not directly, but by gently guiding their fan force into social service.
Like any industry, there will be ups and downs, super hits and duber flops. Awesome flicks and bakwaas movies. Tollywood is no exception. But the promise that there are new paths being stepped on, fresher ideas being incorporated and path breaking trends invented. That spirit is enough to celebrate 75 years of Telugu cinema. Salaam Tollywoood!
While there are innumerable biggest, highest, firsts in the industry, any Telugu movie fan would agree the following are the Big Ten of the industry.
1. The Classiest movie of all time: Shankarabharanam (1979)
2. “God’ of the matinee: NT Rama Rao
3. Ultimate Lover of the matinee: Akkineni Nageshwar Rao
4. Starriest Star: Chiranjeevi
5. Biggest grosser ever: Pokiri (2006)
6. Funniest movie ever: Mayabazar (1957)
7. Tollywood’s best export to Mumbai: Sridevi
8. Biggest embarrassment: Remakes, remakes and remakes
9. Most creative gift to Mumbai: Ramgopal Varma
10. Biggest asset: Giving a break to everyone who is talented
Jan 19, 2009
WHILE YOU WERE WORKING OUT HARD…
Published in Big Hyderabad November 2008
…and dreaming about looking like your favorite star doing yoga and following a diet, your fave stars underwent a host of treatments to look so good.
One of the first things my cousin reads in every magazine is the sample diet of a celebrity who look Wow even when she is way past 50. Oh yes, the diets that talk of an egg white for breakfast, a glass of cranberry juice for mid-morning, one phulka with salad for lunch and things like that. Another two hundred words about her Yoga or aerobics exercise regime.
Well, if you are one of those who have ‘weight loss’ as your keyword in life, and have been envying actor or actress – from Hema Malini to Malaika Arora Khan and Sanjay Dutt to Ronit Roy, you really need to read about what most of the celebs do to look young and beautiful.
Behind all the stuff you read about egg white breakfast and sandwich for dinner schedules, there are weekly appointments with the beauty parlor for de-sagging facials, wrinkle-stopping massages and wart-removing treatments.
That done, the next few days are spent at the aesthetic medicine specialist who puts your celeb through his Botox injections and face lifts. Yes, an insta facelift – a half hour procedure where electrodes put on your facial skin give a slight tinge to iron out the wrinkles temporarily – easily covers up the wrinkles and the age on your celeb’s skin when she is doing the cover shot for the beauty magazine. From Rs 5,000 a session to Rs 6 lakh, the face lift can cost anything depending on what the celeb needs. This is besides the real face lift using Thermage (a new anti-ageing technology) and the collagen stimulation. Not to forget about Botox and anti-wrinkle treatments.
For that hot bod with an enviable silhouette, a team of doctors and experts would have worked on, for several sessions. On a good day, the hot looking star you are dying to look like may have had electronic muscle stimulation programs for at least three weeks before she or he posed before the camera. These stimulations are 30- to 40-minute passive, non-aerobic workout to all major muscle groups delivered through small pads placed on the body. This massage-like session yields almost instant tightening of muscles and lost inches. Ha, and you thought if you did Ashtanga Yoga for six months or survived on Cabbage soup, you would get a figure or skin like hers!
No, we are not done yet. A week before your star appeared for the Award nights to give a performance or walk away with a trophy, he would have had a Body Wrap. Here, your star has been coated with an herbal body treatment and then wrapped in muslin or plastic sheets for 45 minutes to an hour. As she relaxes planning for the photo shoot, she is on a vibrating bed while dry sauna heat elevates the heart rate. Herbal lotions are applied and the combination of heat, massage and elevated heart rate result in a “shrinking” of tissue. What you see is a super slim figure with all her assets in the right size and shape! All this coupled with the final Photoshop touches given by the page designer of the fashion magazine!
While you were working hard at your office, they were spending their time and energy trying to keep the wrinkles at bay, fight the sagging skin and look younger. So next time you see a sexy celeb looking twenty years younger than her calendar age and talking about having buttermilk for breakfast, you know the secret, don’t you!
Jan 18, 2009
You are a true Hyderabadi if...
- Published in August 2002, City Info
- Your address reads as 23-404-32/67A-43 (New MCH number 56-678/4A/B-22), while you actually live in the second house beside Zamzam cafe in lane behind Anand Theatre on SP Road.
You end up buying only a salwar kameez, whether it is a theatre workshop, food mela, consumer expo, designer jewellery show, science show or an automobile convention. - Your street has at least one roadside mobile hotel that serves Chinese delicacies such as Vegetable soft needles, Navrotten Kurma, Chicken Manchewurea or American Chompsee.
- Your answer is \'seedha chale jao\' when somebody asks you for directions, whether it is to Malakpet, Masab Tank, Malkajgiri or Moosapet.
- You come across tailors sporting the board: Immidiot delivery in two days onli.
- If you can speak Hindi, Urdu, English and Hyderabadi, except Telugu, fluently.
- Your answer is \'not in my pockets\' when somebody asks you \'Where is XYZ?\'...and you also roll on the floor laughing at your joke.
- If you ask the waiter to get you some \'Mango pickle\' even if you are sitting at a lavish continental banquet dinner with exotic Chinese, Mexican, Italian and Lebanese cuisines.
- You order for a tea just after having had a Caramel custard.
- If you have at least one Srinivas, Raju or Venkatesh within six square feet. In other words, you have at least one cousin, friend, colleague or acquaintance with these names.
- If you have at least one cousin, friend, colleague or acquaintance in the US in software.
- If everytime somebody gives you a piece of good news, the first thing you ask them is \'Party kab hain?\'
- You are reading this and secretly admitting that you are, after all, a true blue Hyderabadi.
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